DESIGNED TO SELL

A 1917 French Manor-style home that recently went on the market at 755 Sheridan Road in Winnetka had everything a buyer could want in a North Shore property. With incredible curb appeal and a location two blocks from the village and Tower Beach, Compass’s Lowe Group North Shore listing was ready to dazzle its next owner.

However, even the most turnkey properties are not perfect for every buyer. With that in mind, Grace Kaage’s Lowe Group North Shore—a division of realtor Jeff Lowe’s nationally ranked Lowe Group—was ready to unveil its visionary new collaboration with her design-build firm, The Kaage Company. Using custom 3D design concepts, prospective buyers were able to see a comprehensive range of options to make the home truly their own.

Kaage, a third-generation real estate professional, says that when the 6,000-square-foot property had its first showings, a few people walked through and loved it as is. However, others wanted what The Kaage Company is now able to offer—a full-service interior design plan with prices and 3D visuals that bring it all to life.

“There were people who walked through and said ‘this is great, but I feel like the kitchen needs updating. I’d prefer a more open layout,” explains Kaage, who is currently renovating her own English Tudor home in Winnetka with her developer husband. “And I said ‘well, that’s interesting. The sellers and I discussed this as well and I had our design firm develop an open concept option. Would you like to see it?’.”

All she had to do was hit play on a 3D model that simulated the home’s potential and the prospective buyer was blown away, especially since pricing for a range of options was presented as part of this cutting edge, interactive marketing package.

“Buyers no longer have to imagine their space. We deliver it to them,” explains Kaage. “These 3D models go beyond drawings. Our design concepts are a pathway to construction and can be delivered with material costs, bid pricing, and direct connections to local builders able to execute the concept.”

This ground-breaking initiative to break down barriers between real estate and interior design to deliver a high-end, integrated buying and selling experience stems, in part, from everything Kaage has seen in her real estate career.

“I’ve been in real estate all my life, as was my father before me. I learned the business from him and he had five kids. We all ended up getting into it one way or another—as agents, developers, or lenders. My grandfather was also a real estate agent,” she says, adding, “We haven’t seen anything like this done before.”

The advantages that The Kaage Company offers are clear. Rather than trying to guess what a prospective buyer might want in a renovation and making big investments before putting a property on the market, sellers can present their homes as-is and let the next owner customize to their taste.

“We are also entering a period of time where buyers are going to be expecting more from their realtors than they ever have before,” says Kaage, referring to both a recent settlement by the National Association of Realtors and evolving millennial homebuying trends. “That latest statistics show that more than 55 percent of homeowners who purchase homes end up renovating at least one area.”

Beyond that, the new endeavor is also on brand for the Kaages and the historic North Shore homes they love to work on and bring back to life.

“We don’t want to see everyone tearing them down. We want to see if we can help create a world where they can be restored,” she adds. “We feel there’s a market for this and are excited to be the first to explore it.”

For more information about The Kaage Company, visit kaagecompany.com. For more information about Compass’s Lowe Group North Shore, visit lowegroupnorthshore.com.